There is no month in the whole year, in which nature wears a more beautiful appearance than in the month of August! Spring has many beauties,and May is a fresh and blooming month, but the charms of this time of year are enhanced by their contrast with the winter season.August has no such advantage. It comes when we remember nothing but clear skies, green fields and sweet smelling flowers when the recollection of snow, and ice, and bleak winds, has faded from our minds as completely as they have disappeared from the earth and yet what a pleasant time it is! Orchards and corn-fields ring with the hum of labour; trees bend beneath the thick clustersof ripe fruit, which bows their branches to the ground; and the corn, piled in graceful sheaves, or waving inevery light breath that sweeps above it, as if it wooed the sickle, tinges the landscape with a golden hue. Amellow softness appears to hang over the whole earth; the influence of the season seems to extend itself to the every wagon, whose slow motion across the well-reaped field, is perceptible only to the eye,

but strikes with no harsh sound upon the ear.

 

一年四季之中，大自然的外貌最美不过的一个月就是八月。春天有许多美的地方，五月是新鲜和娇艳的月份，但是这种时节的媚人之处是由于和冬季的对照而加强起来的。八月没有这种有利的条件。它来的时候，我们所记得的只有晴朗的天、绿色的田野和芬芳的花——雪、冰和凜冽的寒风已经完全被我们的脑子遗忘了，正如它们已经完全从地面消失了一样,——然而这八月是何等可爱的时节啊！果园里和谷田里震荡着嘈杂的 劳作的声音；结了一丛丛丰硕果实的枝条垂到地面，连树干都坠得发弯了；谷物呢，整整齐齐地束束堆着，或者被不时掠过的一阵阵的微风吹得摇摇摆摆，像是在向镰刀求爱，它们给这片风景染上一片金色。似乎有一种丰美的柔和气氛笼罩着整个地面；时节的影响像是连大车也受了感染，它在收割过的田野里缓慢地移动，唯有眼睛可以看得出来，而耳朵却听不到粗浊的声音。